Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
'Gov't won't achieve carbon neutrality by 2050'
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By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
The government's grand plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 lacks feasibility unless it's preceded by a drastic revision to the current coal-powered energy and transport policies, a local climate advocacy group said Thursday.
“We are certain to fail in achieving the 2050 carbon neutrality initiative if we maintain the current policy,” an official of the advocacy group said. “We need to introduce various policy measures such as emission regulations and carbon taxes. Investment in renewable energy is crucial to driving out coal-powered energy early.”
The Ministry of Economy and Finance acknowledges the need to put a stop to the much-criticized method of energy production, but says immediately halting the decades-long source of cheap, stable energy remains a thorny issue, as evidenced by an immense pushback from workers fearing job losses and industries that have no immediate alternative to the carbon-dependent energy.
Experts say government plans should be about giving a clear, strong and consistent signal for the private sector to initiate long-term planning, entailed by intense research and hefty corporate spending.
This is why a clear lack of directives for change in the current energy policies can become a major sticking point for Korea, the world's ninth-largest investor in coal energy, the group says.
According to a study conducted by Solutions for Our Climate, the climate advocacy group, and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Thursday, carbon neutrality cannot be achieved if no revisions are made to the current policy.
In the worst scenario of the three assumed by the study, greenhouse gas emissions are expected to amount to about 500 million tons, down only 30 percent from now.
Worse yet, about 700 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions are expected by 2030, far above the current 2030 NDC target of 536 million tons, a level considered highly insufficient by the international community.
NDC stands for naturally determined contributions, the basis for national climate action plans that encompass targets, measures and policies to be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat every five years.
The transport sector will significantly rely on crude oil as a source of energy, since the regulation governing the automotive industry remains relatively loose.
The report said oil will account for 55 percent of the source for transport in 2030 and 50 percent in 2050.
Greenhouse gas reduction in the transport sector is expected to have clear limitations unless followed by a ban on the sale of internal combustion engines, effective in some European countries and the U.S., it added.
The assessment came in response to President Moon Jae-in's speech on Oct. 28 last year when he said that Korea will seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.
Under the plan, 8 trillion won ($7 billion) will be spent on the Green New Deal, a key part of the Korean New Deal, seeking to identify a new source of sustainable economic growth. The remaining components of the overarching policy initiative are the Digital New Deal and job creation, designed to help the economy overcome the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic by cutting dependence on coal.
The use of public transport will be promoted and a greater number of charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) will be built.
An investment of 20 trillion won over the next five years will help build 500,000 small, fast-recharging facilities for EVs near residential areas nationwide, and 15,000 at key locations frequented by drivers by 2025.
A hundred large refilling stations for FCEVs will be set up in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province by the early half of this year and the number will be increased to 450 by 2025.